Thursday, November 14, 2013

The War on Thanksgiving

Walmart has announced it will open its stores at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving,joining retailers like Target, Best Buy, Kmart, Macy’s, Kohl’s, J.C. Penney, and Toys R Us that are cutting their workforce’s holiday short to pursue holiday season profits. Kmart will open its doors the earliest of all the stores, opening at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

“Almost everybody to date has moved up, at least one hour, if not more,” Walmart Chief Marketing Officer Duncan Mac Naughton said Monday. “We thought 6 o’clock was the exact right time to win the weekend.” He explained that the 1 million workers needed to staff stores are “really excited to work that day.”

Last year, Walmart faced protests and strikes for creeping into holiday hours. The 8 p.m. start time prompted an online petition that collected more than30,000 signatures. As consolation, the retailer said it will pay workers higher holiday wages, give them one 25 percent discount on a transaction, and give them a free meal.